About Tomás Malvenda
Tomás Malvenda, O.P. (1566–1628) was a Spanish Dominican theologian, exegete, and chronologist, widely regarded as one of the most erudite biblical scholars of the post-Tridentine era. Born in Játiva (Valencia), he entered the Order of Preachers and spent the greater part of his scholarly life at Rome, where he enjoyed the patronage of several Popes and worked for many years on a monumental new Latin translation of the Old Testament directly from the Hebrew. His two principal surviving works are De Antichristo (Rome, 1604; Lyon, 1647) — a massive theological treatise in thirteen books on the Antichrist, drawing on Scripture, the Fathers, scholastic theology, and Rabbinic literature — and the posthumously published Commentaria in Sacram Scripturam (Lyon, 1650), a multi-volume commentary on the entire Bible. Both works contain numerous extended discussions of the Jewish people, their Talmud, their Messianic expectations, and their relationship to Christianity. Malvenda writes throughout as a thoroughly Catholic scholar, steeped in the Adversus Judaeos tradition of the Fathers and the scholastics.
The passages below are drawn from these two works. Latin originals are given first, followed by English translations. Page numbers and book/chapter references are supplied wherever the original text makes them identifiable.
I. On the Crime of Deicide
Source: De Antichristo, Liber X, Cap. I (Lyon, 1647 ed., p. [corresponding to file 1, line 20071])
“Insuper scelus Iudæ & Iudæorum Deicidarum immane plane ex obiecto fuit, nempe occisio Dei: at neutiquam cum blasphemia Antichristi est conferendum, cum longe peius sit se extrema illa superbia Deum facere, quam Deum in natura assumpta, vel vendere, vel necare, idque ex ignorantia dicente Paulo: Si cognovissent, numquam Dominum gloriæ crucifixissent.”
“Moreover, the crime of Judas and of the Jewish Deicides was, from its object, truly monstrous — namely, the killing of God. Yet it cannot at all be compared with the blasphemy of Antichrist, since it is far worse to make oneself God through that extreme pride, than to betray or to kill God in the nature He assumed — and this they did through ignorance, as Paul says: ‘If they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.'”
Source: De Antichristo, Liber X, Cap. I (continuation of same passage)
“Et ut videamus peccatum Adæ, Iudæ, ac Iudæorum ex obiecto, vel ex malitia fuisse maius quam Antichristi se pro vero Deo adorari iubentis… nihilominus tamen recte monuit Soto, tot scelera, sacrilegia, ac vitia in unius humani animi cloacam confluere & aggeri posse ut illum reddant longe peiorem ac sceleratiorem Adamo, Iuda, ac Iudæis Christi interfectoribus.”
“And so that we may see that the sin of Adam, of Judas, and of the Jews — from its object or from its malice — was greater than that of Antichrist commanding himself to be worshipped as the true God… nevertheless Soto rightly observed that so many crimes, sacrileges, and vices can converge and accumulate in the sewer of a single human soul as to make him far worse and more criminal than Adam, Judas, and the Jews who killed Christ.”
II. On Jewish Perfidy and the Punishment of Deicide
Source: De Antichristo, Liber IV (Lyon, 1647 ed., on Daniel’s Fourth Beast)
“Sed non aduertunt verpi perfidi iuste se pœnas occisi & repudiati Christi, & obstinate cæcitatis persoluere.”
“But the faithless, crooked ones do not perceive that they are justly paying the penalties for the slaying and rejection of Christ, and for their obstinate blindness.”
Source: De Antichristo, Liber VI (on Zacharias; Lyon, 1647 ed.)
“…singulare oraculum de obcæcatione, induratione, ac perenni perfidia & impietate populi Iudaici, post interfectum & repudiatum Iesum Christum Dei Filium, quæ duratura est usque ad tempora Antichristi.”
“…a singular oracle concerning the blindness, the hardening, and the everlasting perfidy and impiety of the Jewish people, after the murder and rejection of Jesus Christ the Son of God — which blindness is to endure until the times of Antichrist.”
Source: De Antichristo, Liber VI (commentary on Zacharias, alluding to Matthew 23)
“Implevit Iudæi mensuram patrum suorum interficiendo Filium Dei, Apostolos profligando, & Euangelium repudiando.”
“The Jews have filled the measure of their fathers by killing the Son of God, by persecuting the Apostles, and by rejecting the Gospel.”
Source: De Antichristo (File 2, on the dispersion of the Jews)
“…meritas occisi & repudiati filii Dei pœnas expendunt.”
“…they are paying the well-deserved penalties for the slaying and rejection of the Son of God.”
III. On the Blindness, Obstinacy, and Miserable Condition of the Jews
Source: De Antichristo, Liber I (on the Rabbinic tradition of the Six Thousand Years)
“Sed ò Messiam loripedem & tardigradum qui iam Mille sexcentos quatuor annos charissimis suis alumnis suum differt adventum! ò verpi ter infelices quanta est vobis opus patientia! quantum in Talmud tædium ac fastidium moræ sine fine devorandum!”
“But O the lame and slow-footed Messiah, who now for sixteen hundred and four years has been putting off his coming to his most beloved disciples! O ye thrice-wretched, crooked ones — what great patience is required of you! How great the weariness and tedium of endless delay that must be swallowed down from the Talmud!”
Source: De Antichristo, Liber I (immediately following)
“En quibus se solatijs lactant, seu potius ingulant perfidi caligine infidelitatis contenebrati.”
“Behold the consolations on which the faithless ones suckle themselves — or rather, with which they strangle themselves — blinded as they are by the darkness of their unbelief.”
Source: De Antichristo (File 2, on the same Rabbinic tradition)
“ò verpi ter infelices, qui relicto vero Christo, falsum expectatis, recepturi falsum, nimirum Antichristum, quia verum repudiastis.”
“O ye thrice-wretched, crooked ones, who, having abandoned the true Christ, await a false one — and you shall indeed receive a false one, namely the Antichrist — because you have rejected the true.”
Source: De Antichristo, Liber VI (on Zacharias 5, exposition of the word RISAH)
“RISAH, proprie Improbitas, Præfractio, Inquietudo, Turbulentia, Motus, Seditio, Reatus, Damnatio, indicat Iudaicæ gentis perfidæ & obstinatæ post reiectum Christum, miserabilem & infelicem statum in dispersione & exilio mundi: ubique enim sunt improbi, inquieti, præfracti, turbulenti, seditiosi, damnati, piaculares, omnium criminum rei: ubique odiosi, pestilentiosi, omnibus infortuniis cooperti.”
“RISAH [wickedness], properly meaning: Depravity, Obstinacy, Restlessness, Turbulence, Agitation, Sedition, Guilt, Condemnation — it signifies the wretched and unhappy state of the perfidious and obstinate Jewish people after their rejection of Christ, scattered in dispersion and exile throughout the world: for everywhere they are depraved, restless, obstinate, turbulent, seditious, condemned, laden with guilt, culpable of all crimes; everywhere hated, pestilential, and covered in every misfortune.”
Source: De Antichristo, Liber IV (on Daniel and the Jews‘ interpretation of the Fourth Beast)
“Gemunt enim Templum suum ab apro, seu a quarta Danielis bestia, hoc est a Romano Imperio proculcatu, destructum, eversum, & hereditatem Domini pessum datam. Sed non advertunt verpi perfidi iuste se pœnas occisi & repudiati Christi, & obstinate cæcitatis persoluere.”
“For they lament that their Temple has been trampled down, destroyed, and overthrown by the boar — that is, by the Fourth Beast of Daniel, namely the Roman Empire — and that the heritage of the Lord has been ruined. But the faithless, crooked ones do not perceive that they are justly paying the penalties for the killing and rejection of Christ, and for their obstinate blindness.”
IV. On Supersessionism: The Synagogue Rejected, the Church Elected
Source: De Antichristo, Liber VIII (on Daniel 12 and St. Michael)
“Notarunt fere omnes atque cumprimis Scholarum Theologi, Michaelem olim fuisse patronum ac tutelarem custodem, præsidemque Synagoge, atque id quidem professi sunt potissimum se accepisse ex verbis istis Gabrielis apud Danielem cum ait: Michael Princeps magnus, qui stat pro filiis populi tui. Et rursus idem Gabriel Angelus inquit Daniel 10: Michael Princeps vester. Postea vero reiecta, & repudiata veteri Synagoga à Deo ob perfidiam, & necem Christi, factum esse Michaelem præsulem ac patronum S. Dei Orthodoxæ Ecclesiæ. Atque ita certo sibi persuasit totus Catholicus cœtus per universum orbem diffusus, se sub tutela ac cura Michaelis Archangeli esse.”
“Almost all scholars, and especially the theologians of the Schools, have noted that Michael was once the patron and guardian, the president of the Synagogue — and this they have stated they received above all from these words of Gabriel in Daniel: ‘Michael, the great Prince, who stands guard over the sons of thy people.’ And again the same Angel Gabriel says in Daniel 10: ‘Michael, your Prince.’ But afterwards, when the old Synagogue was rejected and repudiated by God on account of its perfidy and the murder of Christ, Michael became the president and patron of the holy Orthodox Church of God. And thus the entire Catholic assembly, spread throughout the whole world, is firmly persuaded that it stands under the protection and care of Michael the Archangel.”
Source: De Antichristo, Liber I (on St. Julian of Toledo’s work)
“Ad pervicacium istorum petulantiam retundendam, simul & perfidiam prosternendum S. Iulianus Toletanus Episcopus rogatu Eruigij insigne opus tribus partitum libris conscripsit, cui Adversus Iudæos Titulum fecit.”
“To beat back the insolence of those obstinate ones and at the same time to lay prostrate their perfidy, St. Julian, Bishop of Toledo, at the request of [King] Erwig, composed a distinguished work divided into three books, to which he gave the title Against the Jews.”
V. On the Jews as Enemies and Persecutors of Christians
Source: De Antichristo, Liber I (citing St. Justin Martyr, Apologia ad Antoninum Imperatorem)
“Pro inimicis & hostibus nos habentes Iudæi, itidem cum possunt occidunt, & excrutiant, quemadmodum vel ex eo persuaderi potestis: proximo namque bello Iudaico Barchochebas defectionis Iudeorum dux & princeps solos Christianos ad gravia supplicia, nisi Christum abnegarent, & maledictis incesserent, protrahi iussit.”
“The Jews, treating us as enemies and foes, kill and torment us wherever they are able, as you can be persuaded from this fact alone: in the recent Jewish war, Barchochebas, the leader and chief of the Jewish revolt, gave orders that Christians alone should be dragged away to grievous punishments unless they would deny Christ and blaspheme Him.”
(Malvenda introduces this passage as follows: “This is what Justin writes, who was living nearby at the time, that is, in Samaria where he resided, and could witness it at close range.”)
Source: De Antichristo, Liber I (on Jews tampering with the Septuagint; citing St. Justin Martyr)
“Atque quod illi multos & integros locos illarum Scripturarum ex Translatione eorum qui cum Ptolemao fuere seniorum, sustulerint, in quibus clare hunc ipsum crucifixum Deum & hominem esse, eumque in cruce pendere & mori pronuntiatum esse ostenditur, scire vos volo. Pluribus etiam ostendit Iudæos odio Christi derasisse ex versione septuaginta Interpretum in Psalmo 95. v. 10. celebre illud testimonium: Quia Dominus regnavit a ligno.”
“‘But I wish you to know that they have removed many whole passages from the translation made by the elders who were with Ptolemy, passages in which it is clearly proclaimed that this same crucified One is God and man, and that He hung upon the cross and died.’ He [Justin] further shows by several examples that the Jews, out of hatred for Christ, scraped away from the version of the Seventy Interpreters in Psalm 95, verse 10, that celebrated testimony: The Lord hath reigned from the tree.“
VI. On the Criticism and Condemnation of the Talmud
Source: De Antichristo, Liber V (on Zacharias 5 and the vision of the Ephah; following Paul of Burgos)
“…in quo tamquam in amphora conclusa sit, & consignata, atque collecta, conglobataque omnis impietas: quia nihil magis impium, ac detestandum in infernorum fornace conflari potuit. Cui ædificata dicitur domus in terra Sennaar, quia in vrbe Babyloniæ absolutum & perfectum est tam execrandum opus, in officina impietatis à nefandissimo opifice diabolo, collato symbolo totius obcæcationis & perfidie Iudæorum, compactum.”
“…in which [the Talmud], as in a sealed and signed amphora, all impiety is gathered and compressed together — for nothing more impious and detestable could be forged in the furnace of hell. Its house is said to have been built in the land of Shinar, because in the city of Babylon this execrable work was completed and perfected — wrought in the workshop of impiety by the most abominable craftsman, the devil, forged from the very sum of all the blindness and perfidy of the Jews.”
Source: De Antichristo, Liber I (on the tradition of Elias and the Six Thousand Years)
“…quod opus esse omnium plane mendacissimum, nullus vnquam dubitavit.”
“…that this work [the Talmud] is by far the most mendacious of all, no one has ever doubted.”
Source: De Antichristo, Liber I (on Rabbis and superstition)
“Rabbini plura superstitionis plena, & quod peius est in illis totam Legis meditationem, putantes id sibi à Deo præceptum, collocant.”
“The Rabbis heap up much that is full of superstition, and — what is worse — they place the whole meditation of the Law in such things, imagining this to have been commanded them by God.”
Source: Annales Ordinis Prædicatorum (File 6), year 1244; Letter of Pope Innocent IV to King St. Louis IX of France, as cited and transmitted by Malvenda
“Impia Iudæorum perfidia, de augurum cordibus propter immensitatem suorum scelerum Redemptor noster velamen non abstulit, sed in cæcitate, quæ contigit ex parte in Israël adhuc permittit manere… In huiusmodi namque traditionibus, quæ Thalmud Hebraicè nuncupantur, & magnus liber est apud eos, excedens sextum Biblia in immensum, in quo sunt blasphemiæ in Deum, & Christum eius, ac Beatam Virginem manifestæ, intricabiles fabulæ, abusiones erroneæ, ac stultitiæ inauditæ, filios suos docent, ac nutriunt, & à legis, & prophetarum doctrina reddunt ipsos penitus alienos, verentes, ne veritate, quæ in eisdem lege, ac prophetis est, intellecta, apertè de Unigenito Dei filio venturo in carnem testimonium perhibente, convertantur ad fidem, & ad Redemptorem suum humiliter revertantur.”
“The impious perfidy of the Jews — our Redeemer has not removed the veil from their hearts on account of the immensity of their crimes, but still permits them to remain in the blindness that has fallen in part upon Israel… For in these traditions, which in Hebrew are called the Talmud — a great book among them, surpassing the Bible sixfold in bulk — there are manifest blasphemies against God, against His Christ, and against the Blessed Virgin; intricate fables; erroneous abuses; and unheard-of stupidities, with which they teach and nurture their children — and by which they render them entirely alienated from the doctrine of the Law and the Prophets, fearing lest, if the truth contained in the same Law and Prophets — which openly bears witness concerning the Only-Begotten Son of God coming in the flesh — were understood, they might be converted to the Faith and humbly return to their Redeemer.”
(Malvenda notes that this letter approved the burning of the Talmud books in Paris, initiated by Friar Henry of Cologne, O.P., in 1239, and further ordered their collection and burning throughout the realm. He also cites the subsequent condemnations of the Talmud by Julius III (1554) and Clement VIII (1593).)
Source: Annales Ordinis Prædicatorum (File 6), year 1244; same letter, continued
“…sed tanquam servi reprobati à Domino, in cuius mortem nequiter conspirarant, saltem per effectum operis, servos se recognoscant illorum, quos Christi mors, & istos liberos, & illos constituit esse servos.”
“…but as servants reprobated by the Lord — in Whose death they wickedly conspired — they should acknowledge themselves, at least in the effect of their works, to be the servants of those whom the death of Christ has made free, and them [the Jews] slaves.”
VII. On the Vain and False Hope of the Jews Concerning Their Messianic Return to Judea
Source: De Antichristo, Liber XI, Cap. I (on the conversion of the Jews at the end of time)
“VENTURO suo Messia, hoc est, ipsissimo Antichristo tria ante alia potissimum sperat feralis Iudaica natio: Primum se ex omnibus mundi partibus per Messiam, atque reducendos in Iudæam solum patrium. Secundum, Ierusalem & Templum cum sacrificiis, & cetero sacrosancto ornatu, & apparatu magnificentiori, quam vnquam ante fuere, instauranda esse. Tertium, regnaturos ibi felicissime cum suo Messia in omni copia & affluentia rerum omnium terrenarum, quæ ad voluptates, & delicias corporeas attinent, subiactis cunctis Gentibus, fixo & stabilito Ierosolymis totius orbis Imperio.”
“Concerning their coming Messiah — who is none other than the Antichrist himself — the deadly Jewish nation hopes for three things above all others: First, that they are to be gathered from all parts of the world by the Messiah and led back to their ancestral soil of Judea. Second, that Jerusalem and the Temple are to be restored with their sacrifices and all their sacred ornaments and with a magnificence greater than ever before. Third, that they will reign there most happily with their Messiah in all abundance and plenty of every earthly good pertaining to bodily pleasure and delight, with all the Gentile nations brought into subjection, and the dominion of the whole world fixed and established at Jerusalem.”
Source: De Antichristo, Liber XI, Cap. I (on the same)
“Hanc esse perfidorum vanissimam spem, & falsam opinionem, facile intelligi potest ex Rabbinis præsertim Scelomone, & Kimchio passim in Commentariis Psalmorum.”
“That this is the most vain hope and the false opinion of the faithless ones can easily be understood from the Rabbis, especially Solomon [Rashi] and Kimchi, throughout their Commentaries on the Psalms.”
Source: De Antichristo, Liber X (on Gog, Magog, and Jewish messianic expectations)
“Totoque cælo aberrant verpi quòd putant, hæc omnia de Gog & Magog vaticinia complenda in primo Messiæ adventu, quem ipsi nondum in carne advenisse, venturum tamen infeliciter arbitrantur: confundentes ut sæpe faciunt, duos Messiæ adventus, alterum humilem in carne passibili: gloriosum alterum, & maiestate plenissimum in fine sæculi… Deinde inani spe se lactant, de aureis sæculis Messiæ hic in terra futuris, cum omni bonorum ac felicitatum terrenarum copiæ cornu, cum ea non nisi in cælo, ubi vera felicitas, sint expectanda. Nec animadvertunt infelices, sese ipsos futuros, qui cum Antichristo vero, hoc est suo digno Messia, adversus verum Christum nostrum cæli terræque Monarcham, eiusque charissimam Ecclesiam in fine mundi pugnabunt.”
“And the crooked ones err by the whole width of the heavens in thinking that all these prophecies concerning Gog and Magog are to be fulfilled at the first coming of the Messiah — whom they unhappily suppose has not yet come in the flesh, but will come — confounding, as they so often do, the two comings of the Messiah: the first, humble, in passible flesh; the second, glorious and most majestic, at the end of the world… Besides this, they nourish themselves with the vain hope of a golden age of the Messiah here on earth, with the horn of plenty flowing with every earthly good and happiness — when these are to be expected in heaven alone, where true happiness resides. Nor do the wretched ones perceive that they themselves will be those who, together with the Antichrist — that is, with their fitting Messiah — will fight at the end of the world against our true Christ, the Monarch of heaven and earth, and against His most beloved Church.”
VIII. On the Jews Receiving the Antichrist as Their Messiah
Source: De Antichristo, Liber II, Cap. XI (on Babylon as the birthplace of Antichrist)
“Denique certum est Iudæos Antichristum pro Messia suscepturos, & superius est à nobis diligenter annotatum Iudæos in Babylone maxima cura servare successionem perennem quam ipsi sibi confinxerunt Principum è Tribu Iuda, quo cæci miserandi se ipsos inani spe sustentent, nondum iuxta Iacobi vaticinium ablatum sceptrum de Tribu Iuda, nondumque venisse Messiam, quem ipsi tam anxie iam per sexdecim integra sæcula, sed frustra præstolantur.”
“Finally, it is certain that the Jews will receive the Antichrist as their Messiah. And we carefully noted above that the Jews in Babylon take the greatest care to preserve the perpetual succession of princes from the tribe of Judah, which they have fabricated for themselves — by which fiction those blind and wretched ones sustain themselves with an empty hope: that the scepter has not yet been taken away from the tribe of Judah according to the prophecy of Jacob, and that the Messiah has not yet come — He Whom they now for sixteen whole centuries have awaited so anxiously, and yet in vain.”
Source: De Antichristo (File 2, on Antichrist and the Jews in Babylon)
“Verpi perfidi sperant adhuc in Pseudosuo Messia implendam: & cum ipsi Antichristum pro Messia recepturi sint, haud equidem illum pro rege suo à Deo obuncto & coronato agnoscent, nisi cum in monte Sion, in solio & throno David Patris eius regnantem aspiciant.”
“The faithless, crooked ones still hope for fulfillment in their pseudo-Messiah. And since they are to receive the Antichrist as their Messiah, they will not acknowledge him as their king anointed and crowned by God, unless they behold him reigning on Mount Sion, upon the throne of David his father.”
Source: De Antichristo, Liber II (on why Antichrist will be born in Babylon)
“Inspice mirificam Dei providentiam, qua profundam Iudæorum cæcitatem toti mundo testatissimam redditurus est, cum in media Babylone Antichristum natum, tamquam ex Tribu Iuda progenitum, & suis in eadem vrbe Principibus ex illa Tribu prognatis succedentem, ut verum legitimumque Messiam sint recepturi, cum revera non ex Tribu Iuda, sed ex Dan Tribu oriturus sit.”
“Behold the admirable providence of God, by which He will make most manifest to the whole world the profound blindness of the Jews — when, with the Antichrist born in the midst of Babylon, they will receive him as their true and legitimate Messiah, as though he were descended from the tribe of Judah and succeeding to their princes of that tribe in that same city, when in reality he will be of the tribe of Dan, not of Judah.”
IX. On the Contemptuous Jewish Use of the Term “Gentiles”
Source: Commentaria in Sacram Scripturam, on Genesis 12:2 (Lyon, 1650 ed., File 5)
“Quare refutandos esse Iudæos, qui alias omnes gentes, quæ non sunt circumcisæ, per contemptum hoc nomine appellant. Et multo magis recentiores Iudæos ineptire, qui nedum nos Christianos GOIIM gentes, verum etiam singulos viros GOI gentem appellant, qui non sunt ex semine Abrahæ, quasi unus vir gens sit, & gentem aliquam constituat.”
“Therefore the Jews are to be refuted who call all other nations that are not circumcised by this name [Goiim] with contempt. And far more foolish still are the modern Jews who call not only us Christians GOIIM (nations), but even apply the singular GOI (nation) to each individual man who is not of the seed of Abraham — as though one man were a nation and could constitute a people.”
Sources
The passages above are drawn from the following primary sources:
- Tomás Malvenda, O.P., De Antichristo Libri Tredecim (Rome, 1604; Lyon, 1647) — Google Books (1604 Rome edition) — Internet Archive (Lyon 1647, vol. 1) — Internet Archive (Lyon 1647, vol. 2)
- Tomás Malvenda, O.P., Commentaria in Sacram Scripturam (Lyon, 1650) — Internet Archive (vol. containing Genesis–Leviticus) — Google Books (alternate volume)
- Tomás Malvenda, O.P., Annales Ordinis Prædicatorum (Naples, 1627) — Google Books (Annales)